Getting spiritual with Low Leaf in Los Angeles
LA based Low Leaf is the environmentally friendly musician whose tracks explore the themes of the metaphysical. The female producer, singer and songwriter cones harps, guitar and piano with electric beats and is eternally inspired by nature. Her stage name comes from a leaf on the lowest branch of the tree, and the leaf is a symbol for nature and in her own words, she has evolved musically just how a tree must grow to become the fullest form it can be. Originally from the Philippines, she was born in Hollywood and raised in the Valley and first made ripples in the local music scene in the 2012 summer festival season. We spoke to the 26 year old spiritual singer about what she gets up to in a day, from rituals
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
The first thing I do when I wake up is look out the window and guess what time it is based off where the sun seems to be in the sky. I don’t know why I do this, I just do.
Are you a morning, afternoon or night person?
All of the above. Each time of day has a unique energy and colour that can be used in sync with how we design our time. In a sense we move through all the seasons in a day as well. Embracing these cycles really makes each day feel so potent and whole. My favourite time of the day is dawn and twilight though – where the plants glow in a magical hue, the air smells nostalgic, the sky is emotional, and my entire being just feels more vulnerable and tapped in.
When in the day does your creative process start?
When I wake up honestly because the moments before one actually sits to produce something, you are always processing feelings, thoughts and dreams. Each moment is a creative choice, for life is art.
Is there any one thing your day doesn’t feel complete without?
Tea! Tea is my daily ritual I never miss. Some days I don’t do yoga and meditate, but I always always drink tea. Lately I been mixing tulsi, lavender, and mulberry.
What did you listen to today?
I’ve been listening to my second meditation mixtape that I’m gonna drop in a few days – just letting it play as the soundtrack to my day. it feels different in the morning than it does in the evening.
And what did you read?
I’ve been reading a few pages a day of this book called The Law of Divine Compensation: On Work, Money and Miracles by Marianne Williamson. My favourite line I read a few hours ago was “we experience who we really are, and what it is we’re meant to do, in any moment when we pour our love into the universe”… truth!
What’s the last thing you do at night?
I look at my passion planner and set intentions for the next day – I’m a super big nerd when it comes to my planner because as a Virgo, I take my to-do lists and my pastel highlighters very seriously.
And now some questions about your music…A lot of people have described you as “experimental” in online features, do you identify with that description?
I do identify with “experimental” more than any other word when people describe my music. It’s always been a challenge to concern myself with genres because all the lines kinda blur for me, and how I approach music. I kinda just, like what I like, and create whatever I feel, as my own filter. So everything I make sounds like something from my universe. I decided I would just make up a new genre after I finished each project n it’s helped me to understand where I exist in this musical landscape.
You drop a meditation mixtape on every new moon, what makes good music for meditation?
I think what makes good meditation music is the sensitivity to vibration, pure intention, and an awareness of how sound can literally uplift or disrupt the spirit. A mixture of all these components will definitely translate through the music.
How does spirituality and music intersect for you?
At this point, I’ve found that spirituality and music intersect at the moment when my heart is facing the creator during the creative process. Who are we playing to, for, and why? My purest moments in music, are when I am speaking from my heart, through sound, and I know with all my being, that I’m being guided by the greater hand. Your personal narrative falls away, and you play with utmost intention and sincerity. I ask myself, what of this music can I offer to the creator? May it be my very best, always.
Which artists do you admire for the way they’ve incorporated their spiritual identity into their music?
I suppose a very obvious answer is Alice Coltrane. Although we have different spiritual backgrounds and approaches, I deeply respect and admire her reverence and her use of music and art as an extension of her devotion. I’m about that too, in my own way…
What’s happening next for you?
Aside from the monthly meditation mixtapes, I’m dropping a project called PRiMiTiVA with a friend’s label Fresh Selects. It’ll be a co-release with my movement Creator DIY. I’m also working on an instrumental beat project for Fat Beat’s Baker’s Dozen series. Besides that, I’m writing and recording my next full length album, and also going to be offering private and group sound baths again in Los Angeles again. I realised last year that just as I am inspired to create new patterns and choices in the music industry that are in rhythm with nature (ie releasing mixtapes on every new moon). As artists we each have a unique self-sustaining equation that isn’t bound by old ideas. It takes courage, but, when you walk the path, the universe always supports everyone that fearlessly follows their heart.
